The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-10
When the religious discourse Of the future
arrives in thiq land and in tha Christian

partmentS are tOlllnS tOr ChrlSt ana the sal
walton of immortals: Brevity! Brerity!
But remark also that the religious dis
course Of the future Of which speak will be
popular discourse. There are those in these
times who speak OF popular sermon as
though there must be something wrong about
it. As these critics are dull themselves the
| world gets the impression that sermon is
good in proportion as it is stupid. Christ
was the most popular preacher the world
ever saw, and considering the small number
of the worlds population, had the largest
audience ever gathered. He never preached
anywhere without making great sensation.
People rushed out in the wilderness to hear
him, reckless of their physical necessities. So
great was their anxiety to hear Christ that,
taking no food with them, they would have
tainted and starved had not Christ performed
a miracle and fed them.
Why did so many people take the truth at
ChriSt's hands? Because they all understood
it. He illustrated his subject by hen and
her chickens, by bushel measure, by hand
full Of salt, by birds flight and by ily's
aroma. All the people knew what He meant
igious discourse Of the future appears, it will
not be Princetonian, not Rochesterian, not
Andoverian, not Middletonian, but Olivetic-
plain, practical, unique, earnest-compre-
hensive Of all the woes, wants, sins, sorrows
and necessities of an auditory.
But COMB wsea ere sas 1 bs ID
scimetars to charge on it, There are In so
many theological seminaries professors tell
ing Young men how to preach, themselves
not knowing how; and I am told that If q
Young man in some Of our theological semi
naries says anything quaint or thrilling or
unique faculty and students ny at him ana
set him right, and straighten him out, and
smooth him down, and chop him of, until ne
says everything just as everybody else says it:
Oh when the future religious discourse OF
the Christian church arrives, all the churches
of Christ in our great cities will be thronged
The world wants spiritual help. All VINO
have buried their dead want comfort All
know themselves to be mortal and to be i'm
mortal and they want to hear about the great
future tell you, my friends, if the people
of our great cities who have had trouble only
thought they could get practical and SYM
pathetic help in the Christian church, there
would not be street in New York, or
Brooklyn, or Chicago, or charleston, Or fhil-
on the Sabbath day if their we're church on
it; for all the people would press to that
asylum of mercy, that great house of comfort
and consolation.
A mother with dead babe in her arms
came to the god Veda, and asked to have her
child restored to life The god Veda said 20
her: "You 60 and get handful OF mustard
u
sorrow, and in which there has been no
death, and will restore your child to life"
So the mother went out, and she went from
house to house, and from home to home, look
ing for q place where there had been no
sorrow and where there had been no death,
but She found none. She went back to
the god Veda and said: MY mission Is
mustard seed; / can't find place where
there has been mo sorrow and no death.
''Oh," says the god Veda, understand your
sorrows are no worse than the sorrows or
others we all have our griefs, and all have
our heart-breaEs."
Laugh and the world laughs with you,
Weep, and you weep alone:
For the sad old earth must borrow its mrtn,
But has trouble enough OF its own.
We hear a great deal Of discussion now all
over the land about why people do not go to
church. Some say it is because Christianity
is dying out, and because people do not be-
lieve in the truth Of Gods word and all that
They are false reasons. The reason Is because
our sermons and exhortations are not inter.
esting, and practical, and helpful Some one
might as well tell the whole truth on this sub
iect, and so I will tell it. The religious dis
course of the future, the Gospel sermon to
come forth and shake the nations and lift
people out of darkness, will be popular ser
mon, Just for the simple reason that it will
meet the woes and the wants and the ankle
ties of the people. -. .-..
There are in all our denominations ecclesi-
astical mummies sitting around to frown
upon the fresh youEg pulpits of America, to
try to awe them down, to cry out: Tut! tut!
tut! Sensational" They stand to-day preach
ing in churches that hold thousand people,
and there are a hundred persons present, and
if they cannot have the world saved in their
way it seems as if they do not want it saved
at all.
lido not know but the old way Of making
ministers Of the Gospel is better.a collegiate
education and an apprenticeship under the
care and home attention Of some earnest,
aged Christian minister, the young man
getting the patriarchs spirit and assisting
him in his religious service. Young lawyers
study with old lawyers, young physicians
with old physicians. and l believe it wonld be
great help if every young man studying
for the Gospel ministry could put himself in
the home, and heart, and sympathy, and
under the benediction and perpetual presence
of Christian minister
But remark again, the religious discourse
of the future will be an awakening sermon.
From alter rail to the front door step under
that sermon an audience will get up and start
for heaven. There will be in it many STAG
will be battle charge. Men will drop their
sins, for they will feel the hot breath Of pur-
suing retribution OH the back Of their necks.
1t will be sympathetic with all the physical
distreSSeS as well as the spiritual d1StreSSeS OF
the world Christ not only preached but He
healed paralysis, and He healed epilepsy, and
He healed the dumb and the blind and ten
lepers. -,
That religious discourse Of the future will
be an everyday sermon, going right down
into every mans life, and it will teach him
how to vote, how to bargain, how 10 plough,
how to do any work he is called to, how to
WELD trowel and pen and pencil and yard.
stick and plane And it will teach women
how to preside over their households, and
how to educate their children, and how to
initiate Miriam and Esther and Vashti and
Eunice, the mother Of Timothy, and Mary,
on Northern and Southern battlefelds, were
mistaken by the wounded for angels Of mercy
fresh from the throne Of God.
Yes, have to tell you the religious dis
,ourss of the future will be q reported SER
non If you have an idea that printing was
invented simply to print secular books, and
steno5raphy and photography were con-
trived merely to set forth secular ideas, you
are mistaken. The printing press is to be the
great agency Of Gospel proclamation. 1t Is
nigh time that good men instead OF denounc-
ing the press, employ it to scatter forth the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. The vast majority
Of people in our cities do not come to church,
and nothing but the printed sermon can
reach them and call them to pardon, and
] life, and peace, and heaven
| So cannot understand the nervousness OF
some of my brethren of the ministry. When
| they see q newspaper man coming IN they
say: ALAS there IS reporter" Every